New Life
by Emerald Shadow Maiden
Summary: This is the beginning of my Witch Hunter Robin (WHR) series which starts up AFTER the series ends. If you haven't seen the whole series you might want to before you start this, because otherwise it spoils it. Gems and Flames please...
1. Life of Uncertainty

Robin turned the corner and kept her hands tight on the grocery bags she carried through the night. In this part of town no one was safe even if you had powers. Amon was to meet her back at the apartment they were renting. He had only mentioned following a lead on another rogue witch.

Robin reached the complex and used a key to open the door. She hurried when she saw a sleeping beggar next to the door and slipped inside. She held her breath while walking up the stairway and down the trash strewn hallway to the very end room 213.

She stepped in, slipped off her shoes, set down the groceries on the table and cautiously checked all the rooms without finding Amon or intruders. She tried to turn on the lights and the gas stove but neither worked. She pulled out a supply of candles, put on her glasses, lit them with her mind, and started to prepare dinner.

Amon was heading back to the apartment after a fruitless search. Some one had warned the witch and she had left without a trace. He was across the street from the building when he watched a tenant unlock the front door, walk in, and he caught the slight hand of the "sleeping" beggar next to the door as the hand snatched the door to hold it open. The beggar waited until the tenant had disappeared before slipping in the door and walking slowly, but purposefully up the stairs.

Amon crossed the street quickly, unlocked the door, and walked upstairs slowly with his hand on his gun. He was tense with his stomach in knots since he saw the beggar acting so suspiciously but he wondered if he was just going crazy watching out for Robin. He paused before turning the corner slowly but did not see the beggar anywhere. He started down the hall searching his mind for an answer of where the beggar had gone, as he searched each doorway with his eyes. He jumped slightly when Robin's head appeared from their doorway and she looked right and left. Amon closed the distance to the door, shoved Robin inside, before shutting and locking the door.

"What were you doing? I told you not to hang in the doorway like that," Amon said angrily.

Robin lowered her head slightly and folded her hands in front of her.

"Someone knocked at the door," said Robin softly.

"And you were answering it? Should I even bother to return to see if you are still alive everyday?" Amon asked coldly.

"I'm sorry, Amon. It has only been a few months since everything happened and we left the STN-J. I am sorry, I will try to do better," Robin bowed. "Dinner is almost ready."

Robin walked over to where the food was cooking and brought out two plates before pouring their drinks. Amon took off his coat and shoes next to the door before taking a seat on the couch in the living room. Robin served Amon and then sat on the floor across from him with the low table between them.

Silently they began to eat with only vague murmurings of noise coming from their surroundings. A baby cried upstairs, two lovers next door were having a quarrel, and someone downstairs was tossing something against a wall every few moments so an ominous pounding shook the walls of the room.

"The witch was gone. Someone must have warned her," said Amon as he reached for his glass.

Robin stared at her food for a moment which she had only picked at slightly.

"The food was good Robin, thank you," said Amon.

Robin picked up the dishes and washed up the kitchen before returning with tea.

"I heard another rumor about a girl named Raven who was fired from a hotel not long ago. They had an odd customer who had supposedly kept the room ice cold, so cold that water was dripping through the floor into the tenant's room below. When confronted one person was partially frozen to a wall. Supposedly that is when Raven showed up, and suddenly green and black flames freed the man from the wall and badly burned the odd customer," said Robin.

"'Green and black flames'? Most witches control normal elements. That is odd," said Amon.

They sat silently sipping tea pondering the possibilities.

"Do you think that…" Robin started to say but stumbled over her thoughts.

"Do I think what Robin?" asked Amon.

"Do you believe Todou was the only one to try to save the witches?" asked Robin cautiously. "Perhaps there are others who have genetically altered witch children. Maybe I am not the only one."

Amon's forehead wrinkled slightly as he thought. He knew that Robin must feel horribly lonely but could there be more like her?

"I do not know, Robin," he said quietly. "He did not hint that he shared his research but others may have thought to try it. I don't know how they would have turned out though."

"It was just a thought I had wondered about," Said Robin trying to fake a casual voice.

She picked up the empty tea cups, washed them, and then returned to where Amon still sat.

"You should go to bed." Said Amon.

Robin bowed.

"Good night, Amon," she said.

"Good night Robin," replied Amon.

Robin went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and take down her hair before retiring to the bedroom. Amon looked out the window in the living room before returning to the couch where he laid down and considered Robin's question and the puzzle of this new witch called Raven who could conjure green-black flames.

Amon had a quick breakfast in the morning and left a note for Robin telling her not to go out today. He walked briskly out of their apartment building and began tracing rumors about Raven.

Robin awoke with a start an hour after Amon had left and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She'd been having nightmares of research facilities where men and women, even babies and children were being tested. She did not know what they were being tested for but felt their agony at being held prisoner. She sighed and gathered together her clothes as she wrapped herself in a towel.

She peered into the main room, but finding Amon missing hurried quickly to the bathroom to take a shower. As she got dressed and fixed her hair she found herself humming a light tune. She stopped suddenly and frowned.

Why should I feel so…happy? Robin thought. Maybe change is coming at last.

She cleaned up the apartment and heated some tea as well as some breakfast. She found Amon's note and was a little disappointed but she was used to this. She had so much time and so little to do that she had started a journal where she recorded as much as she remembered of her past and had now reached the time where she came to the STN-J in Japan. She sat down and continued to write, when suddenly she heard a knock on the door. She put down her book and pen quietly while listening. Again she heard a soft knocking on the door. Slowly she stood up and waited again. The soft knocking was a little louder this time.

If someone was after me, they would have already broken in, Thought Robin. That would also be true of a robber. Who could it be?

As she took one cautious step towards the door she checked the rest of the room with her eyes for any sign of an attack. She continued cautiously towards the door as she pulled her glasses out of her pocket and slipped them on. She reached the door, and gazed through the peep hole to find a young looking girl with black greasy hair. She saw the girl look at the door and bite her lip, fear danced in her eyes and she cautiously knocked again. Robin noticed that the girl wore a necklace with an odd pendent. It appeared to be an arrowhead black as night but containing pieces that sparkled like the stars. As she watched Robin's own red pendent glowed slightly for a moment and as it dimmed the girl's arrowhead pendent also glowed before returning to its natural state. Robin opened the door slightly, enough to see the girl standing completely still with her hand in the air, frozen in mid-knock.

"What is it that you want?" asked Robin.

"I seek a girl named Robin, I have heard rumors that she can help those who are worthy," said the girl.

"What is your name?" asked Robin cautiously.

"I am known mainly as Raven," she replied with her head bowed.

Robin did not fully understand why, but she felt she could trust Raven. She opened the door and Raven entered. Raven stepped inside and slid off her tattered, dirty sandals as Robin closed the door and locked it.


	2. Meeting Raven

Meeting Raven

"Would you like some tea?" asked Robin as she gestured toward the kitchen.

"Yes, please," replied Raven as she walked a little farther into the room.

Robin brought two cups of tea to the small table and gestured for Raven to sit in the chair as she resumed her seat on the couch. Raven glanced at the chair but instead of sitting in it she sat on the floor with her legs bent at the knee and her feet resting to her left. She accepted the tea and Robin noticed that Raven held the cup delicately almost as if she were a lady.

"I am not one for small talk. In this situation it would be hard to talk about acquaintances and happenings that vaguely affect us, seeing as I have only heard of you and this is your first meeting with me. Do you agree?" Asked Raven smoothly.

Robin sipped her tea so as not to appear so confused.

"I do agree. This then brings us to the question of why you have come looking for me," said Robin as she held her cup in her lap.

"Well, there is one pressing matter that concerns me," said Raven sipping her tea before holding it a few inches from her lap. "Amon has been tracking me, and I have no where to go. I do not know what your intentions are, that is to mean, what you would do with me once you captured me."

Robin sat quietly gazing at the girl in front of her. Her age was undistinguishable, though her hands and face were dirty with a few scratches, her face was quite pale. Her fingers appeared delicately sculpted though the fingernails held a little dirt underneath.

"We have not discussed plans of what to do with witches. We just know that we cannot ignore their existence when we may be able to stop some from harming others who are innocent," Said Robin.

"Then I should probably leave so that you can discuss it," Raven said as she stood and drained her tea.

She placed the cup on the table and bowed to Robin.

"But, wait," Robin said quickly as she stood. "How will I be able to find you?"

Raven's left hand enclosed her arrowhead pendent.

"If your intentions are good then you can always find those like yourself." Raven said as her hand glowed a pale green still clutching the pendent. "How else did you believe that I found you so quickly?"

Robin's mouth was parted in puzzlement.

"You will discover it, our kind always does," said Raven before she bowed and quickly left.

Robin paced around the room for most of the day anxiously awaiting Amon to return. She was puzzled at what Raven had said at their parting.

"If your intentions are good then you can always find those like yourself. You will discover it, our kind always does."

But what had she meant by it?

Robin's fingers played with her own pendent as she began pacing again.

What would Amon want to do with captured witches?

Now that I know I am one I do not know if I could kill them. They are almost like my family – and I've never had one before.

I guess we would have to judge them. Yes, those who are dangerous would have to be watched or eliminated. But how will we know for sure which witch is potentially dangerous?


	3. Discussion

Robin sat quietly on the couch as Amon stood still next to the counter pondering her question.

"Not all witches mean to harm others, most just want a normal life," said Robin softly. "What right do we have to kill them if they are peaceful? I can understand getting rid of those who are abusing their powers but can we really just continue to try to exterminate them? Do they not have the right to live free?"

"I'm not sure," said Amon. "I don't have anwers. Even if we try to start something, we have limited funds. We are still hiding from Solomon headquarters. Do you still want to bother with them? Witches I mean? You could start a new life away from all of it, pretend it never happened. Wouldn't you rather disappear?"

Robin sat quietly for a moment. Again she heard the dying screams and jumbled whispers of the witches she had burned at the factory, saving them from a life in experimental tubes.

"_Don't betray us again!"_

"_You must do something to stop the genocide…"_

"_Save us from persecution!"_

"_Your destiny awaits…"_

"_Save our kind or perish in hell!" _

"_Save our remaining people or suffer again!"_

"_Do not let us die in vain."_

"_Your destiny awaits…"_

Robin shook her head quickly and closed her eyes.

"They cannot have given their lives for nothing. I have to find a way to help them. I cannot just ignore my heritage and turn my back to them," Robin said and took a deep breath. "You are my watch dog – you swore that if my powers got out of hand, you would end me. I accept that and will not run from that fate. I need to know what you plan to do until then, if that day should come. It may even be helpful to know what you would do after my death if it comes to that."

Amon turned around and sat on the edge of the couch, an obvious strain in his face.

"I have been thinking about it. As long as you are planning to save people and try not to kill others in the process, I will stand with you. If we find other witches and band them together we can perhaps make a safe community for them. Maybe even find a way to help them control their powers. If I am forced to kill you, I will, and then perhaps by that point you will have a successor and I will continue to watch them. Maybe there will be others like me who will want to join in being a watch dog."

They sat in silence for awhile with only the falling rain outside making noise.

"I think we need to leave Japan for awhile though," said Amon seriously.

"We will but there is someone we need to find first," said Robin, as she rose to pack their few possessions.


	4. Expanded Senses

Expanded Senses (IV)

Robin set the book bag next to the door and leaned over to slip on her shoes. Amon came up quietly behind her, slipped on his boots, and picked up the book bag, slinging it easily over his shoulders. Robin looked up at him as she stood up ready to go.

"I was going to carry that," Robin said hesitantly.

"I've got it," Amon said with no expression on his face. "So who is it we are going to find before we leave?"

"We have to collect Raven," said Robin calmly as she walked through the door.

Amon sighed, realizing that something had happened, and followed after her. Downstairs Amon handed their keys to the landlord with a tip before they walked out the front door. Robin walked quietly wrapped in her thoughts. Raven's voice and last words floated through her head again.

"If your intentions are good then you can always find those like yourself. Our kind always does."

Amon followed Robin silently as she wandered the streets, not really paying attention to where she was going. All the fields and spells she knew of did not seem very helpful. None had talked about finding others with them. She heard Raven's voice again but this time remembered Raven's hand clutching her arrowhead pendent. Her hand had glowed an odd hue of green and then she had asked Robin, "How do you believe I found you so quickly?"

'Could this have something to do with my pendent?' thought Robin as she glanced at her red pendent.

It looked nothing like Raven's arrow head but perhaps this was the link. Robin stopped suddenly and grabbed her pendent like Raven had done in a determined fashion. Amon was about to ask her a question so to avoid this distraction she began walking briskly, again without aim.

'This has to be it, but her hand glowed; now how do I do that?' Robin closed her eyes and concentrated on feeling the energy around her pendent as she continued to walk.

It was hard to describe what it felt like. It was a mixture of wading through a pool and trying to decipher objects in the rain during twilight. Her mind flashed back again to how Raven had held her pendent and this time as she remembered and waded through the depths of her pendent simultaneously, she could sense and almost see the energy waves encircling her pendent. The energy from her pendent rippled out in a smooth consistent way with a beat that echoed that of Robin's heart. There was a definitive color and ripple that could only be her pendent but within it she sensed another pattern. She stepped further into the ripples and reached out to the new pattern with her mind as a newborn stretches its fingers toward new objects nearby. As she reached it, a wave of energy washed over her, and though the pattern was still jumbled and indescribable to Robin she sensed that it was a part of Raven. Finding this piece within her pendent she withdrew from its depths and turned her mind to the outside world. She could still sense the energies within her pendent but they were not as prominent. It was about this time that Robin also realized that Amon was looking worriedly into her face as she sat with her back against a wall in an alleyway.

"Are you alright?" Asked Amon who waited only for her to nod before asking another question, "What happened?"

Robin did not know how exactly to describe it to him and while pondering how to phrase it she realized that there was a ripple of Raven's presence emanating through the air. She paused to feel it out with her senses. Smaller ringlets of patterns were coming from the south. Could this be what Raven had meant? Was this the way to find her?

"I am not quite sure how to explain it, but I think I discovered how to find Raven," Said Robin as she stood slowly.

"You can explain it to me later then, let's find her before she disappears," said Amon as he slipped into his usual take-charge mode.

As Robin wandered down the alley and across the street towards a park she could not help but wonder about a stray thought sparked by Amon's choice of words. This pendent sensing seemed powerful, if she could master it, and if Raven already had, disappearing would then be one of the hardest things in the world to do.


End file.
